FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Shirley Luna – February 24, 2004

SFA Professor Attends American Dietetic Association Leadership Institute

Dr. Suzy Weems, Stephen F. Austin State University Regents Professor, was among the national leaders of the American Dietetic Association who were selected to attend the association’s Leadership Institute, held recently in Tucson, Ariz.

            Weems is a registered dietitian, a faculty member in SFA’s Department of Human Sciences and director of the SFA Didactic Program in Dietetics. Weems serves the American Dietetic Association as one of two Texas delegates.

            Participation in the association’s invitation-only Leadership Institute, an intensive certificate-training program in the theory and practice of leadership in dietetics, was limited to fewer than 500 of nearly 70,000 members throughout the country.

            “The purpose of the program was to enhance the leadership competencies of ADA members through a combination of information, skill development and intensive practice-based educational experiences,” said registered dietitian and association president Marianne Smith Edge.

            “The program was designed to strengthen dietetics professionals’ ability to lead within ADA and in their places of employment, to assist other ADA members in mastering change in their environments and to advance the goals of the dietetics profession,” Edge said.

            The Chicago-based American Dietetic Association is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, Weems said. The association serves the public by promoting nutrition, health and well-being.

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